Hard to find a silver lining in Tinsel Town

The Los Angeles Lakers had to search long and hard for a silver lining in Thursday’s meltdown against the Boston Celtics.
Blowing a 24-point lead and a chance to even up the NBA Finals was a tough one to take – especially knowing that no team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to take the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.
Now the Lakers have to sweep the final three games, including Games 5 and 6 back in Boston, where the Celtics are 12-1 in the playoffs and 47-7 on the season.
I’m not saying the Lakers - who skipped practice today - are going to come back and win the series (don’t forget I took the Celtics in seven), but they have a couple, and I mean a couple, things to build on for the remainder of the series:

• Lamar Odom showed up Thursday – for a half. Odom had 19 points and 10 rebounds and four assists in the loss. Problem was, Phil Jackson sat him in crunchtime again and Odom had just four points, two boards and one dime in the second half. If Odom can stay on the floor, the Lakers are a better team than they showed in the first four games. Odom, however, finds himself in a very difficult situation in Game 5, which will be played on Father’s Day only a couple years after losing his son.

• Pao Gasol, another Laker who has been mediocre in the series, might have some more room to roam in the paint if Celtics center Kendrick Perkins can’t go. Perkins injured his shoulder in Thursday’s game and is listed as questionable for Sunday. Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo are also banged up, although those two seem to play pretty well when they’re hurt.

I could see the Lakers bouncing back to win Game 5 in L.A., but I’m also not sure that prediction of Celtics in 7 is going to hold up. Boston in six is starting to sound a lot more realistic at this point.